Flexiscopes are well known in the medical art. A flexiscope is a device used to examine a patient experiencing problems in the colon and lower reaches of the digestive tract. A flexiscope generally includes a flexible tube and a control housing. The flexible tube has a plurality of optical fibers to transmit light to the remote end of the flexiscope. Other fibers are used to return reflected light from the remote end to the control housing e.g. the viewing end of the flexiscope.
Over the years, various problems have been recognized with the construction and operation of the flexiscope and many improvements have been developed.
One problem in particular persists and is inherent in the existing structure of the flexiscope. In particular, thc clongated portion of the flexiscope is quite flexible. This is necessary in order to follow the contours of the colon. The colon follows a tortious path, after doubling back on itself in sharp S-shaped curves. In order for it to be sufficiently flexible to follow the tortious path through the colon, the flexiscope inserted in the colon wall may loop and/or double back on itself, sometimes kinking. In some instances the looping and doubling back consumes the entire length of the scope within a relatively short path in the colon. In some patients the colon is extraordinarily long and has extra loops, especially at the lower end, and the flexiscope tube tends to loop or kink in such a colon to an even greater extent.
The present invention overcomes such problems by controlling rigidity, the direction and positioning of the flexiscope to gain full usage of the length of the flexible tube so that the viewing end may reach further into the colon.